Did I miss a memo about English spelling reform? More and more people seem to be spelling ridiculous as “rediculous”. Have they all been infected by the same typo? Or is it some street-talk that I’m unacquainted with?
Tag: english
English Pedantry
Bad English on the web annoys me. Which is all very unfortunate as there’s so much of it out there. Vox isn’t immune to this. I’ve just noticed that they consistently spell “neighbourhood” without the “u”. I suppose I should make an exception as they’re American and therefore can’t be expected to use proper English… Continue reading English Pedantry
Proof Reading – A Lost Art?
Robert saw this poster and uploaded a photo of it to Flickr. It contains an incredible number of grammatical errors.
“email” vs “emails”
Obviously I’ve got my copy of the new Guardian and I’ll have more to say about it later on. But I just wanted to raise a point about the letters page. They’ve renamed it “Letters and Emails”. Now that makes sense on one level as I assume that a large proportion of the letters aren’t… Continue reading “email” vs “emails”
Vanishing Adverbs
When did people stop knowing the difference between adverbs and adjectives? It’s becoming common to hear people using adjectives instead of adverbs and it really grates. There’s an example on the BBC new site right now. The headline says “Charles urges society to go slow“. Isn’t it obvious that the last word should be “slowly”?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory yesterday. In general it’s a decent version of the story. But let’s not forget that it’s a children’s book so the plot isn’t exactly complex :) However, there was one thing that really annoyed me about it. And that was the blatant Americanisation of the dialogue. The book… Continue reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Disinterested Media
An interesting anecdote about Alastair Campbell from John Humphrys’ book Lost for Words. In order to follow the story, you need to know two things about Campbell. Firstly that he was Downing Street’s Director of Communication (and could therefore be assumed to know a little about the English language) and secondly that he often accused… Continue reading The Disinterested Media
How Not To Phish
If you’re planning to embark on a phishing attack, here’s a little tip – get your text checked by a native English speaker. Here’s the text of an email I just got. IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION Since 1968 National Westminister Bank is serving its clients with the most reliable service. In Banking the most important part is… Continue reading How Not To Phish
Grammar
I go online sometimes, but everyone’s spelling is really bad. It’s… depressing. Tara – Buffy the Vampire Slayer I’m having one of my periodic phases when I get really wound up by the illiteracy that is so prevalent on the internet. Sometimes I find IRC incredibly painful. Grammar tip of the week: Remember, “install” and… Continue reading Grammar